Lt. William J. Ferrante's Diary
Navigator, 603rd Squadron
September 1, 1944 Ludwigshafen, Germany
Target - Oil Refinery
Bad weather, could not climb over it. Mission recalled over France. Made base OK.
September 8, 1944 Ludwigshafen, Germany
Target - Farben Chemical Company
Altitude - 26,000ft. on oxygen 6 hrs
Heavy accurate flak. Heavy damage to ships. Our ship hit 15 times. Two ships lost. Sauer killed, Jean wounded. Made base OK.
Visual - Some hits
Editor's Notes
- Sauer was John D. Sauer, a 603rd Bombardier who flew with Vince Moore on 8 September 1944.
- Jean's last name has not been identified.
September 9, 1944 Ludwigshafen, Germany
Target - Farben Chemical Works
Editor's Note: The 398th Target this day was Mannheim. However, Ludwigshafen was just across the river.
Altitude - 25,000 ft. on oxygen 6 hours
Medium flak. One or two ships lost. Casualties in some planes. We were hit five times. Made base OK.
Bombed PFF
September 27, 1944 Cologne, Germany
Altitude 27,000 ft. on oxygen 4 hours
Medium flak, made base OK.
Bombed PFF
September 30, 1944 Muenster, Germany
Altitude 27,000 ft. on oxygen 5 hours
Medium flak, our ship hit 14 times by one close burst.
Made base OK
Visual - Hit target
October 3, 1944 Nuremberg [Nurnberg], Germany
Target - Marshalling Yards
Altitude - 26,000 ft. on Oxygen 4 1/2 hours
Heavy flak over target, our plane hit. Lost oil from No. 3 motor, then lost motor. Flak all the way back and through the lines. Made base OK.
Bombed PFF
October 6, 1944 Neubrandenburg, Germany
Target- Focke-Wulf Assembly Plant
Altitude - 20,000 ft. on oxygen 4 hours
Light flak across Germany, none over target. Made base OK.
Visual - knocked out target
October 9, 1944 Schweinfurt, Germany
Target - Ball Bearing Plant
Altitiude - 22,000 ft. on oxygen 4 1/2 hours
Medium flak, pretty bad weather, made base OK.
Bombed PFF
October 28, 1944 Meunster [Munster], Germany
Target- Marshalling Yards
Altitude - 23,000 ft. on oxygen 4 hours
Flak moderate to heavy and accurate. Four ships lost, Brown [Loren C. Brown, 603rd Tail Gunner] in one. Heavy battle damage to our plane. Very heavy contrails. Lost formation over target. Made base OK.
Bombed PFF
October 30, 1944 Hamm, Germany
Target- Marshalling Yards
Altitude - 21,500 ft. on oxygen 4 hours
Light flak, heavy contrails, made base OK.
Bombed PFF
November 2, 1944 Merseburg, Germany
Target - Leuna Oil Refinery
Altitude 26,000 ft. on oxygen 5 hours
Mickey went out, entered target area on wrong heading. Extremely heavy flak for 20 minutes, very accurate and couldn't get away from it. Almost all ships hit. 3/4 of an hour after target our Squadron was hit by fighters. Two of our ships went down in flames. Newman in one. Gunners got 8 probables, and 4 for sure. Group lost three ships. Bad weather. Made base OK.
Visual- Missed target
November 5, 1944 Frankfurt, Germany
Target - Marshalling Yards
Altitude - 26,000 ft. on oxygen 4 1/2 hours
Flak moderate, only hit once. Very bad weather. Had to land at an English base in Odiham. Made base OK.
Bombed PFF
November 8, 1944 Merseburg, Germany
Target - Oil Refinery
Altitude - 24,000 ft. on oxygen 5 hours
Moderate and accurate flak. Number four engine hit and lost. Had to come back alone from Holland. Bad weather.
Made base OK.
Bombed PFF
November 9, 1944 Metz, France
Target - Forts
Altitude 24,000 ft. on oxygen 4 hours
Light flak, made base OK.
Visual - Knocked out target
November 25, 1944 Merseburg, Germany
Target - Oil Refinery
Altitude 27,000 ft. on oxygen 6 hours
Moderate, accurate flak. Engine trouble, and lost 1/2 of oxygen system before target. Very bad weather on landing. Made base OK.
Bombed PFF, missed target.
November 26, 1944 Misburg, Germany
Target - Oil Refinery
Altitude - 27,500 ft. on oxygen 5 hours
Moderate flak. Bad weather at landing. made base OK.
Bombed PFF
General Doolittle at base upon return.
November 30, 1944 Merseburg, Germany
Target - Oil Refinery
Altitude - 25,500 ft. on oxygen 5 hours
Very heavy flak for 15 minutes, very accurate. Our ship hit 8 times. Lost one ship with Woody in it. Very bad weather for landing. Made base OK.
Visual - Hit part of target
Editor's Note: The Weum crew was the only 398th ship down on 30 November 1944. In that crew, there was a William H. Woodcock, Jr. of the 600th Squadron and a fellow Navigator. He became a POW. Perhaps this is Woody.
December 4, 1944 Soest, Germany
Target - Marshalling Yards
Altitude - 26,500 ft. on oxygen 4 1/2 hours
Light flak. Our Squadron went over target alone. Flew "Deputy Lead" on the way back. Made base OK.
Bombed PFF
December 9, 1944 Stuttgart, Germany
Target - Marshalling Yards
Altitude- 26,500 ft. on oxygen 5 hours
Light flak, bad weather. Made base OK.
Visual - Hit target
See also
- Jack Lee's Crew - 603rd Squadron - 5 August 1944
- Jack Lee's Crew - 603rd Squadron - 2 December 1944
- Return to the Lt. William J. Ferrante Diary Index.
Notes
- Lt. William J. Ferrante was the Navigator for the Jack Lee 603rd crew after September 1, 1944.
- The above diary transcription was provided by Jeff Vicha, grandson of Ray Vicha who was Right Waist Gunner on the same crew who had obtained the diary from Tom Lee, Jack Lee's son.
- This transcription is a reproduction of the original. Spelling and punctuation changes have been made to improve readability. In some circumstances, material may not have been transcribed or was rewritten.
- Clarification of acronyms or special words or guesses of certain words are shown in brackets [ ].